Rechargeable energy storage systems for motor vehicles are assembled by electrically connecting together a plurality of individual battery cells. For example, lithium-ion battery cells typically include a soft housing pouch having a positive terminal and a negative terminal extending outwardly from the pouch. These battery cells are positioned side by side in a battery case to bring the positive terminals together and the negative terminals together, thereby creating a stack of terminals to make a parallel electrical connection between the individual cells. These terminal stacks need to be attached to an interconnect member which will in turn connect to other such sub-assemblages of the battery cells.
It would be desirable to use ultrasonic welding to attach the stack of terminals to the interconnect member. However, such an ultrasonic welding operation requires that the terminal tabs be precisely aligned and positioned with respect to each other and with respect to the interconnect board prior to the making of the ultrasonic weld between the terminal tabs and the interconnect board. In addition, there is a concern that any debris created during the ultrasonic welding can be injurious to the pouches if the debris is allowed to fall between the individual pouches.